BARROWS GOLDEN-EYE 



325 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male : Very similar to the Common Golden-eye, but distinguished by the crescentic white 

 patch at the base of the bill instead of the round patch, and by the purple, instead of the dark green 

 gloss of the whole head. The white area on the lower neck, upper mantle, breast, and abdomen are 

 just as in the Common Golden-eye. The lower mantle, rump and tail are also similar. The scapulars 

 and upper wing-coverts present characteristic differences. In Barrow's Golden-eye there is a great 

 deal more black than white, and white areas are confined to an irregular streak along the outer scapu- 

 lars, a small patch on the median wing-coverts and the speculum-patch, which last consists of the tips 

 of the greater coverts, as well as of most of the secondaries. The outer scapulars are peculiar in shape, 

 being bifid at the tip, with the black external web longer than the rest. 



Iris bright golden yellow. Bill bluish or brownish black. Legs and feet yellow, more brilliant in 

 spring (paler than in Common Golden-eye). 



Wing 232-248 mm. (American examples seem to average about 235 mm.); bill 31-36 (American 

 examples may be a trifle smaller) ; tarsus 42. 



Weight: same as Common Golden-eye. 



Adult Female : Similar to the female of the Common Golden-eye and only to be distinguished in 

 life by its smaller and more chrome-yellow bill. But this last is not infallible, for after the breeding 

 season the bill becomes dusky (July). Also the shape as well as the size must be examined. The head- 

 color is usually somewhat darker (deep sepia or purplish snuff-color) and there is a little more gray on 

 the upper breast. None of these color characters can be wholly relied upon, and this sex must be con- 

 sidered as only identifiable by bill measurements. The diagnostic points as given by A. Brooks (1920) 

 are quoted below in full. 



Barrow's Golden-eye 



Nail: Arched in both longitudinal and transverse sec- 

 tions, showing a conspicuous hump above the con- 

 tour of the bill. 



Length of nail: S , over 0.46 in., longest 0.53, shortest 

 0.48, average 0.508; 9, over 0.40, longest 0.46, 

 shortest 0.41, average 0.43. 



Shape of bill: Conspicuously tapered, width taken at a 

 point through anterior angle of nostril, $ , less than 

 0.69, widest 0.68, narrowest 0.63, average 0.65; 9, 

 less than 0.60, widest 0.59, narrowest 0.55, average 

 0.57. 



Shape of skull: Frontals conspicuously bulging in adult 

 males, hardly less so in immature males of second 

 year, bulge distinctly noticeable to the touch in 

 adult females, and faintly so in young (?) females. 



Common Golden-eye {American race) 



Nail: Flattened or depressed. Not conspicuously 

 raised above the contour of the bill when viewed 

 from the side, and not arched in its transverse section 

 toward base. 



Length of nail: S , less than 0.46 in., longest 0.44, short- 

 est 0.38, average 0.406; 9, less than 0.40, average 

 0.37. 



Shape of bill: Not conspicuously tapered when viewed 

 from above. Width at a point through anterior angle 

 of nostril, $ , over 0.69, widest 0.82, narrowest 0.70, 

 average 0.74; 9, over 0.60, average 0.69. 



Shape of skull: Frontals continuing the slope of oilmen, 

 without trace of a bulge. 



Iris yellow to straw-color. Bill orange or cheese-color except the nail, which is black; sometimes 

 dusky toward base of bill (bright colors lost in summer, regained in autumn). Tarsus same as in 

 Common Golden-eye, yellow to orange-yellow. 



Wing 205-224 mm. (American specimens rarely above 215); bill 28-31; tarsus 39. 



Immature Stages: Appear to be exactly the same as in the Common Golden-eye; males of the season 

 do not approach maturity until March or April and never complete their plumage the first year. The 

 bills of females are at first all dark brown or dusky. The birds probably do not breed the first spring. 



Young ln Down: Same as that of the Golden -eye except in colors of soft parts. In this species the 

 bill is pale black to lead-black; toward the tip blackish flesh-color; nail reddish gray. Feet, greenish 

 gray to dirty greenish yellow while those of the Common Golden-eye are yellowish with gray -black 

 webs (Millais; Hantzsch, 1905). 



